Healthcare

Probably the most important factor for heating in healthcare is zero downtime. It is essential that heating and hot water systems designed for healthcare applications are reliable, and have provision for emergency back up.

Estates managers in the healthcare industry have a challenging job balancing budgets to ensure they have a heating system that’s not going to let them down and is compliant with current regulations. Regulations for healthcare tend to be more stringent than most other commercial buildings.

Quality maintenance and servicing of heating equipment is essential to ensure that any issues are picked up ahead of time so that hospitals and care homes are never left without heat or hot water.

We always advise that when choosing new heating plant a backup option is always selected. This can be achieved by having 2 boilers instead of one working as a cascade. This not only means that should one boiler fail there is a back up till the issue is fixed but also the boilers don’t have to work as hard to meet the heating requirements so they are likely to last longer and be more reliable.

Many things must be taken into consideration when designing a heating system in a healthcare setting. From location of emitters to optimize comfort for patients to how the heat is emitted. For example whether its warm air or radiant heat. Emitters must also be low surface temperature so there are no surfaces that vulnerable people could touch and burn themselves. Surfaces must also be wipeable so that there is no build of dirt or germs. For example flat panel radiators rather than grilles that collect dust and dirt.